How To Spend New Year's Eve in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Although the Vietnam’s biggest New Year’s party is reserved for the Tết holiday in the first lunar month, Ho Chi Minh City still puts on a pretty good party for its Gregorian cousin. Let’s have a look at how you should say xin chào (hello) to a healthy and prosperous new year in style.

Fireworks

There’s insane traffic, massive crowds and horns constantly blaring, but spirits are high and everyone still has a lot of fun. New Year’s Eve in Saigon is an unforgettable atmosphere every year – hundreds of thousands of people enjoying time with their friends and families. The midnight fireworks shoot off near the Bitexco tower, which is the tallest building in District 1. Most people watch the show from the streets around the tower, or from District 2 across the Saigon River, but there are better options.

This new addition to Ho Chi Minh City stretches from the beautiful People’s Committee Building all the way to the Saigon river. And the best part? Motorbikes aren’t allowed. It’s crazy busy on New Year’s Eve, but it’s also a great spot for snacks and street performers and a decent view of the fireworks.

The best way to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Ho Chi Minh City is to party at a rooftop bar. It’s the perfect combination –fancy drinks, good service and a great view of the fireworks. There are places for different budgets, but here are some of the better places to ring in the new year. Keep in mind that you will probably need to make a reservation for most of these places, so call early. Some offer dinner packages as well.

Bars

If you don’t care about seeing the fireworks, here are some of our favorite bars. Prefer to drink in a hotel bar? Here are some of the best. You could risk it and simply wander around on the night of until you find a place, but the massive crowds will make changing locations difficult and you might just find yourself out of luck. Our advice is to have a location in mind and get there early.

Hotels

You really should book a room somewhere downtown, near the river, even if just for the one night. The traffic is wild on New Year’s Eve, so unless you want to spend two hours in gridlock, book a room in District 1 as near to the Tran Hung Dao Statue as you can find for your price range. Happy partying!Find places to stay with our partner, Hotels.com